Chapter 10 –The Masked Woman

It took a few weeks, and a lot of yelling despite their agreement, but it seemed at last that Loki and Jörmungandr had come to a balance. Loki, relieved of the intense form of governing he had been performing, was less easily aggravated and had more time to actually give to his sons. He now gave Jörmungandr daily lessons in seiðr and sent him to join the other boys in combat training, although he was never far away in case Jörmungandr lost his temper.

Jörmungandr seemed much happier, especially once he and Thundi had made friends again. The formal adoption of Thundi by Reifer had been concluded two weeks after Reifer had asked Loki's permission, and Reifer threw a party in his home, inviting the king and his son along with others, to celebrate. Jörmungandr had sulked at the start, but soon the fun and games of the other children swept him along and he had forgotten all about his mood.

Frigga had been cautious around Loki, never challenging his parental authority, but staying close so she could help him. Despite his anger at her and Odin, Loki missed his mother's comfort, so he could not bring himself to refuse her. They had come to a mutual understanding where they spoke of light things, and discussed lesson plans for Jörmungandr. Loki asked his mother to become head of his seiðr school, at least until he could find a better alternative. Frigga seemed to revel in her new position, and she quickly filled their conversations with information about the students, young and old.

Then, two months after the king and court returned to Idavoll, Mýrkjartan arrived at the gates bringing with him two prisoners. Mýrkjartan led his horse into the city, with two more tethered to his, bearing a man and a woman in chains. The prisoners had a rather wild look about them, clad in basic clothing that had been repaired many times, and with hair that would probably break any brush that tried to tame it. The woman was curled up as best she could on the horse trying to hide her face with her hair, while the man sat tall and proud, staring down with contempt at the curious people gathering around him as they made their way to the palace. Bótólfr, commander of the einherjar, stood with a heavily armed retinue at the entrance.

"Commander," greeted Mýrkjartan as he swung off his horse.

"Spymaster," grunted Bótólfr with a suspicious look at the man. Bótólfr had never been able to trust Mýrkjartan the way the king did, he felt the strange man was too much of a loose cannon.

"Does the king wish to see the prisoners now, or later?"

"Now, and I assume you have the object?"

Mýrkjartan untacked a box from the horse's saddle, tucking it under his arm. It was small and rather unassuming for something that held such great power. Bótólfr and Mýrkjartan shared a look of understanding and Mýrkjartan set off up the stairs while Bótólfr had his men bring the prisoners after ensuring they were indeed unarmed.

In the Throne Room, Loki was waiting for them, his helm gleaming, Gungnir resting in his hand and Mjölnir at his feet. Queen Aetril and Frigga were standing on the steps leading to it, with Sverrir and Dag on Loki's right. Dag was eyeing the king's wolves nervously, while the ravens soared overhead. The nobility and the public that had managed to get inside strained to see Mýrkjartan knelt before the throne and placed the box on the ground.

"My king, my search has ended in success, I have retrieved the Casket of Ancient Winters."

He opened the box and a shimmering blue light emanated from it, making his pale face turn snow white. Loki waved a hand and the blue light disappeared, only for the Casket to appear again in his lap. Sverrir and Frigga started in alarm, but the king seemed unfazed by the Casket as he ran his hand over it.

"You have done well Mýrkjartan, you have earned a reward. Yet I hear that you have more than just the item stolen from me. You also have the thief."

"Thieves, my king, there were two culprits that day." Mýrkjartan stood up and turned to the door, where Bótólfr and his men were dragging the prisoners into the room. The woman seemed to have lost the ability to walk, while the man snarled at the einherjar pulling on his chains.

"MOTHER!" shrieked a voice and everyone looked around at a beautiful woman standing close to the throne, her hands at her face. "What have you done?"

The woman's tear stained face turned to the younger lady and she sobbed harder.

"I'm sorry, I just couldn't bear it anymore."

"Enough," said Loki in a carrying voice, "Bring the prisoners closer, so I may see them."

The man was staring at Loki as if stunned, but the closer he came the deeper his scowl. They were forced to their knees in front of the king and Loki's mouth quirked at the corner.

"I think we can dispense with the false images, don't you Prince Byleist?"

The man sneered, then, before the shocked eyes of the people, he seemed to shoot upwards, his limbs elongating and his shoulders broadening. His skin darkened to a cobalt blue and horns burst from his brow. In seconds he knelt before Loki, a frost jötun once more.

"Good, now-" began Loki but Byleist cut across him with his deep, scrapping voice.

"You said all false images, didn't you?"

"Yeeeesss," said Loki slowly, raising an eyebrow. They stared at each other, unmoving, then Byleist looked at the woman, who trembled in fear.

"You heard him Gerd."

Lady Gerd shook violently, "Please…" she whimpered.

"No more lies!" hissed Byleist, reaching out and grabbing her arm, ignoring the chains around his wrists. "Show them!"

Gerd whimpered as Loki snapped, "Lady Gerd is still my subject, you will not threaten her anymore!"

"I threaten her? Ha! It is you people who have threatened," growled Byleist, shaking Gerd hard.

"What are you-?"

A scream cut across Loki's voice as Lady Gerd's skin started to change. It was shifting from the soft, pale gold of an Aesir to a muted heavy cloud grey, her hair, blonde and straight was curling up as silver threads shot through dark grey. She was growing, filling out, her eyes changing to silver white. All around the prisoners people were backing away as the einherjar raised their weapons. The clothes Gerd wore split at the seams and the shoes burst as her feet grew and grew.

Finally, like Byleist before her, Lady Gerd knelt before Loki, not as an Aesir woman, but a Storm Giant of Jotunheim. The crowd burst into panic and shouts, while Loki sat frozen in shock as he stared a woman who could have been Angrboda's sister.

"If she's a giant her children are too!" shouted someone and the next thing Loki knew Gerd's children by Freyr, who was still under house arrest, were dragged and shoved out of the crowd by their clothes, their hair, whatever part could be reached. Frída was thrown out by her own husband, who did not seem to care that she was heavily pregnant. Soon Gerd's five children were huddled together in terror, bewildered and horrified as they looked at each other. People were drawing their weapons and shouting incomprehensible things, working themselves into a frenzy.

Queen Aetril turned to look at Loki and the appalled shock in her eyes made him rise to his feet, the Casket in one hand.

"ENOUGH!"

The order cut through the panic and silenced the masses. Soon the only sound was the quiet sobbing of Gerd and her children.

"Obviously there are questions that need answering," said Loki coldly, "But that does not excuse anyone here to descend into madness! I will not allow my court to descend into xenophobic chaos at the slightest thing. Now all of you put down your weapons!"

No one dared disobey, not when the king was so angry the Casket of Ancient Winters seemed to rumble with power. The einherjar pushed the crowds back and a tense calm fell. Loki sat down on his throne, placing the Casket in his lap again, and spoke,

"The questions regarding lady Gerd shall be answered, but first, Prince Byleist, you stole a very powerful weapon from the Vaults of this palace. You realise that the punishment for such a crime is traditionally death."

Byleist gave a rattling growl, but did not answer, so Loki continued,

"Given that you are a member of the royal family Jötunheim that is not really an option. Queen Aetril, I have asked you to be here to be an impartial party to the situation."

Aetril nodded, looking relieved that the mob had been quieted.

"I have no wish to start another war with Jötunheim, but I cannot ignore your actions. However, as you may recall your brother and I struck a deal, that if Jötunheim made no attempts on Asgard's safety, you would get some of the power of the Casket back. By stealing the Casket you broke the contract, therefore, you will not get anything from the Casket, which will belong to Asgard for me to do with as I see fit. That is your punishment for this theft, you've condemned your world to a slow death."

Byleist roared in fury, launching himself at Loki, who threw out a hand and forced him back down with a wave of raw seiðr.

"You call my kind monsters, yet you are the ones who are condemning an entire race to death!" snarled the prince, his voice muffled against the floor.

"I tried to help you, but you decided to turn on me, and for that you must pay," said Loki in a lazy voice. Sverrir, Dag, Frigga and Aetril were all staring at Loki in disbelief. Loki ignored them. "You will never see the Casket again."

The Casket vanished from sight and Byleist let out a howl of pain like Loki had removed his arm. Loki was unmoved, his gaze turning to Gerd, who looked from Byleist to Loki with her bright eyes flashing red gold in the flames. Loki pointed a long pale finger at her.

"Explain."

Gerd shuddered, "I –I –I'm sorry King Loki, I never meant to –to –I…" She let out a sound like the splitting of wood and dissolved into tears. Loki watched her impassively, ignoring his mother's attempts to catch his eye, or Sverrir's twitchy foot near his own. When it seemed Gerd would not be able to speak, Loki said,

"Allow me to make some assumptions. You are a Storm Giant, or more correctly, an íviðja as I believe your people call themselves. At some point in your life you encountered Freyr, a once member of the council, who, from what I have heard, forced you into marriage. Now I see he must have forced you to take on the form of an Asynjur as well, no doubt to hide your origins, which would have ostracised him. How am I doing?"

Gerd nodded, hiccupping, "He said he would curse my whole family if I didn't submit –he killed my little sister when I said no, I didn't want anyone else in my family to suffer because of me, so I went with him."

"And he's abused you ever since, isn't that right?" asked Loki, his eyes narrowed.

"He –he wanted me to be a good Asynjur," said Gerd, which made Byleist snarl furiously and rear up, looking half mad.

"Is this the work of the Golden Realm who would have us all view them as civilised? Letting your men come into other realms and steal women to brutalise and rape them, to force children on them, and then teach those children to hate their mother?"

"Byleist, please," said Gerd softly and they looked at each other, some form of understanding passing between them. It seemed to strengthen Gerd's resolve because she lifted her head and said in a calmer voice,

"I didn't mean to make trouble King Loki, but my children were grown and saw me as nothing but mud on their shoes. I had no reason to stay –how could Freyr harm my family with the Bifröst destroyed. I thought I could get home through one of the other pathways, but they were damaged by the Bifröst's destruction and we were trapped." Her eyes met Loki's and her expression was etched with deep lines of misery, "I just wanted to go home."

"You aided a criminal in stealing a powerful weapon."

"I'd already taken the Casket when I came upon her –she was looking for me to help her escape," said Byleist. He seemed calmer now. "I'm not in the habit of leaving people to suffer."

"Hmmm." Loki sank back into his throne, his fingers resting against his lips thoughtfully as he regarded the two of them. Finally he stood up and said, "Judgement is reserved until I can speak with the King of Jötunheim. In the meantime both of you will be confined to rooms in the palace. Take them away."

There was stunned muttering as Byleist and Gerd were pulled to their feet and led away. Gerd paused as she passed her children who stared up at her, open mouthed and horrified.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean for any of this to happen," she said with her head hanging low as she walked on. Meanwhile, Loki continued,

"Bring me Freyr. And in the meantime I want his children to go back to their father's house and put under guard for their protection. Anyone who makes any attempt to cause distress or harm will suffer severe consequences. Court is adjourned."

With that King Loki stood up and left the Throne Room without a backwards glance.

It was fair to say Loki was in a bad mood by the time he was done with Freyr. The man had blustered and raged his way through Loki's questioning and in the end had settled for saying

"What does it matter, she's only a giant?"

That was the point where Loki had him thrown in the dankest dungeon, the one Tyr had enjoyed before Loki had enacted his death sentence. Seeing Freyr's panicked expression had been very satisfying.

Heimdall arrived seconds later.

"You summoned me my king?"

Loki still struggled not to flinch from Heimdall's face. The handsome man was now badly scarred, even after all of Eir's work. The burns had left his skin with a melted, pockmarked texture and one of his golden eyes was half hidden behind scar tissue.

"I assume you've been watching today's events."

"Indeed, a most eventful day."

Loki sneered, "Did you not see it coming?"

"I never knew Lady Gerd was a Jotun, whatever method was used to keep her in her Asynjur form prevented me from seeing it." Heimdall frowned a little, "I feel as if I have been saying that too often of late."

"I won't disagree that your all seeing ability has missed a lot of things going on in this realm," said Loki, folding his arms and slouching in his seat.

"You and your wife's activities included," said Heimdall with a knowing look.

"Can you see her?" asked Loki at once, as he always did when he saw Heimdall. He did not feel very hopeful to hear anything new.

"No, I can see no more than you when you scry. I believe Vanaheim is still where it has always been, but whatever technology or seiðr is being used to conceal it is something I have never encountered before." Heimdall's frown deepened, "Still, my vision is yet to go back to what it once was."

And it may never be again, went unsaid. The damage to Heimdall's body had been appalling, and his vision, both physical and seiðr based, had been as damaged as his flesh. He could still see better than anyone in Asgard, but it was no longer a steady gaze. Heimdall had admitted to holes and patches in his sight, and at times he could see almost nothing.

"So, can you see Thor?" asked Loki, picking up a stylus and twirling it between his fingers.

"Sometimes, he's been travelling, I can sense a great change in him. He's… lost some of his exuberance."

The idea that Thor could stop being his cheerful self was more alarming to Loki than he was prepared to admit. In his mind, Thor would always be the loud boisterous oaf he had grown up with. Thor was unchangeable, immovable, it was what made him Thor.

"How are the path ways? Even if I can't get to him right now, I might be able to send him a message. He was probably devastated when I got Mjölnir."

"They are healing."

"You've been saying that for two years!"

"I believe they are stable enough to send something small through them, however, that is much more your skill than mine."

"I can't remember the last time I got a letter through the channels, it was probably something really innocuous from Sigyn but-" Loki stopped and swallowed hard.

"Did you keep them?" asked Heimdall, tilting his head slightly.

"Most of them. I packed up everything before I left Idavoll on the tour so the builders could redesign my chambers –that was a mistake. I should have left my bedroom alone."

"I've noticed you seem… unhappy."

"Is that concern I hear in your voice?" asked Loki archly.

"An unhappy king is a king who cannot rule well, that is all," said Heimdall, but there was a gentleness in his tone Loki wasn't used to.

"Well, if you can think of a way for me to get Sigyn back you'll have the best king in the Nine Realms because I'll never stop smiling."

Heimdall's nose wrinkled slightly, "Grief makes you highly sentimental my king."

Loki snorted. Heimdall regarded him for a long moment, then spoke again.

"Do you know what I do when I'm not standing guard?"

Loki gave a start, "You're not always standing guard?"

Heimdall gave him a look of deepest annoyance, "Even I need sleep and relaxation."

"… do you just run out from wherever you're relaxing when you know someone's coming so it looks like you never leave?"

Heimdall arched his remaining eyebrow, "Maybe."

Loki let out a humiliating giggle, but the image was far too funny to resist. Heimdall continued,

"I like my solitude, so when I'm not working, I'm training myself in new skills. Music, smithing, I even took up embroidery when you were a boy –just for something to do."

"Are you trying to tell me I should do the same?"

"I think you need a distraction. Your magic is too familiar, and you've reached a point where your training is simply upkeep and you know what you can and cannot use, so trying a new weapon will not work. You need something new."

"How bad am I that you're the one giving me this advice?"

Heimdall did not answer, only walked to the window and stared down at the city.

"It is good to see it so restored."

Loki nodded, still pondering Heimdall's words.

"Keep an eye on Gerd and Byleist, I don't want them harmed, or to escape again."

"What will you do with them?" asked Heimdall, putting his back to the city.

"That is not for you to worry about," said Loki, fondling Mjölnir's handle.

"She's taken to you," said Heimdall, nodding at the hammer.

"Mmmm, well, let's see how long that lasts," said Loki, waving Heimdall out.

Left alone, Loki briefly thought about Freyr's children and the devastating revelation they had be dealt. Well, wasn't Asgard just full of surprises?

If they had not sided with their father, or been so unlikable, Loki might have felt a sense of camaraderie with them, even pity. As it was he was just furious at Odin for not noticing that so many of his inner circle weren't trustworthy. Some king. Thor was no better, after all his friends only encouraged his reckless behaviour, indulged his stupidity so they could leech off him, and when he was gone they ran after him like parasites refusing to leave the host. At least Loki could be sure of his friends, right?

Sighing, Loki got to his feet and went up to his chambers. Hlin was putting Jörmungandr to bed as he arrived.

"Papa!" Jörmungandr dodged Hlin's hands and ran to Loki, jumping into his arms. "I don't wanna go to bed, I'm not tired. Don't let mean old Hlin make me."

Loki chuckled and kissed his son, squeezing him tight, "It is late son, so Hlin is right to put you to bed."

Jörmungandr gave him a look of betrayal, and Loki sighed, "I'll tell you what, you get into bed and I'll tell you a story. How about that?"

"A good one?"

"Of course?"

"Can you tell me a story about when you went to Midgard with Mama Sigyn?"

Loki stiffened and glanced at Hlin, who had frozen where she was folding clothes. He watched her swallow, then set down the clothes and leave the room.

Loki put Jörmungandr in his bed and checked on Fenrir before settling down with his son to tell a story.

"Have I told you the story about when we went to a kingdom called Tawantin Suyu?"

"No…"

"Hmm, well then, let me tell you. We arrived in the middle of summer, and I nearly fell over from the heat at once, but your mama loved it…"

It felt good to tell the story, he had not told one since the tour began for fear of being overheard. He left out the part where he and Sigyn had tried a few cacao leaves, become highly aroused and gotten in trouble for having sex against the temple wall, but otherwise the story was true.

"They crush babies' heads? Really?" Jörmungandr gaped at Loki.

"Yes, they saw it as normal, even healthy, for the baby to have its head reshaped. It was a little odd looking at first, we were used to the Midgardian's heads being the same shape as ours, but they seemed unharmed by it."

"Weird… so, did you go back?"

Loki sighed, "Unfortunately by the time we went back there, the kingdom was gone, had been for decades. Even the language was gone, replaced by a language from another part of that world. Sad really, the artwork was fascinating, and they were very good at mathematics. I had expected them to become a dominant power in the future, but I suppose they were rather behind in terms of technology compared to other places. There were places like The Ayyubids where science was as ingrained a part of the culture as their religion, they were miles ahead of many peoples."

"What happened to them?"

"Conquered, then decimated by disease. Sadly the Midgardians have a bad habit of doing that."

"Why didn't we stop them?"

Loki arched his eyebrow and chuckled, "That's a day time question, and you're supposed to be asleep."

"But I'm not tiiiiired."

Loki reached out and ran the back of his finger down Jörmungandr's nose. Instantly Jörmungandr's eyes started to drift shut. After six strokes on the top of the nose, Jörmungandr was sound asleep. Loki stayed a little longer, just to be sure, then got to his feet and went in search of Frigga.

"I kept it all in here," said Frigga, pushing open the door off her own bedchambers. Inside were boxes, paintings and various objects. The mementos of his life with Sigyn. Loki looked around and his eyes fell on a dozen different things that brought memories instantly to the fore. His throat closed and he swallowed hard, his hand resting on the box he had put all her letters as he remembered Heimdall's query. He really ought to go through them, read them and… he wasn't sure. There were books of hers that he had hidden away, not wishing them to be damaged or muddled up with other books. He should read them again. He knew one day he would have to go through everything, and decide what he wanted to keep –and what was maybe worthless enough to throw away. The idea made him grimace and he pulled away from his musings to pick up a distinctively shaped box. As he crossed the room to it, Frigga asked gently, "Do you want this all back in your chambers?"

Something in his stomach lurched and he shook his head, "No, not yet. I'll go through it first and see what –what's worth keeping."

He picked up the box and walked back out with Frigga. His mother eyed the box curiously.

"What is that?"

Loki set the box on a nearby table and opened the lid.

"It's called a Pipa. Sigyn bought it for me, when we went to one of Midgards empires. I never got around to learning how to play it." He picked it up and plucked the strings, "I thought it might be something to do."

Frigga watched him examining the pipa, then said, "You know you can talk to me about anything. Even if we're not on the same page right now… I'm here."

Loki put the pipa away without replying. He picked the box up and went to the door, then he paused and looked back at her.

"Is it odd to worry that I'm remembering her as an ideal and not as she was –is –was?" he sighed and shook his head. "Never mind. Good night mother."

"Good night my boy."

Loki was glad of his silencing spells once he started practising with the pipa –he was not good. Still, it annoyed him so much that he practiced as much as he could, usually for several hours after the boys went to bed. It was a good substitute for his nights of talking with Hlin. The chill from her had gotten worse, and Loki thought he had caught her muttering darkly around Jörmungandr and others. He tried to ignore her.

During the day, while Jörmungandr was at his lessons and after Loki dealt with the paperwork he couldn't avoid, he worked with the seiðr casters and the engineers on finishing the Bifröst. Heimdall was certain it was now safe to start tying the new Bifröst into the pathways to help it work. With every piece of progress they made Loki was a step closer to finding out what had happened to Sigyn.

Loki avoided Sverrir, Dag and Reifer when he could, mostly so they would have time to enjoy their own lives. He had taken too much from them in the past four years. Sometimes he sat and wrote long letters to Sigyn, pouring out his thoughts and feelings like he had done just after the Rebellion. He felt like a fool doing so, some part of him shouted that he ought to have gotten past this stage of grief, moved on but how could he move on when there was no certainty of her death? Some days, bereft of other options, Loki studied up on the oncoming Convergence. It was a unique time of magnificent seiðr, and he wanted to be ready for it. If nothing else, the convergence might to allow him access to Vanaheim he was currently denied.

Two months after the capture of Gerd and Byleist, who were still being kept in comfortable imprisonment, unlike Freyr who was sharing his incarceration with rapists, murderers and raiders, Sverrir came to Loki in the library looking excited.

"My king! The engineers have made contact with Alfheim!"

Loki jumped to his feet. "Show me!"

They went to the old communications room, a place where audio and visual links could be established between Asgard and the other realms. It had not been used much since before Loki was born, because Asgard liked a more 'personal touch' in their control over the realms. The screen was huge, filling up a wall and was flickering on and off as the engineers worked on it. Since the technology worked in a similar manner to the Bifröst , they had had the same problems with it.

"Have you reached a person yet?" asked Loki as soon as he crossed the threshold.

"No my king, if their system is as unused as ours, there may be no one there," said the Chief Engineer.

"Call the queen," said Loki.

The screen was still flickering as Aetril arrived with Frigga. Aetril's wings were fluttering anxiously as she wrung her hands.

"You've reached my home?"

"We're trying to get someone's attention right now," said Loki, his own stomach jumping.

"The communicator is in my southern palace, and it's almost autumn. One of my children should be there by now."

The screen continued to flicker, but an hour passed and Aetril refused to leave. She would not move from her position as close to the screen as she could be without being in the way. Finally, there was a screech of feedback, then the screen started to shift, a large figure forming, then splitting into two.

"Try calling them Queen Aetril," said the Lead Engineer. Aetril pressed a button and said,

"This is Queen Aetril of Alfheim, I'm calling from Asgard. Respond."

More feedback, making Loki wince, then Aetril said again,

"This is the queen of Alfheim calling from Asgard, if you can hear me please respond."

The screen shifted, flickered, then began to come into focus, along with a voice.

"This is Princess Deirbhile –máithair! Can you hear me?"

Aetril's voice cracked as she called, "Yes! Yes I can hear you! Deirbhile! Can you hear me?"

"Maithair!"

The screen finally cleared, revealing a beautiful woman with porcelain skin and light green hair next to a woman who was obviously working on the other end to clear the signal. Deirbhile, Aetril's eldest daughter, beamed tearfully, crying again,

"Maithair!"

"Iníon!" called Aetril, reaching out a hand as if she could touch her daughter through the screen.

"Maithair! We thought you lost!" cried Deirbhile, "Where are you, are you safe? What happened? No one can travel by the pathways –are you safe?"

"I'm fine! I'm safe in Asgard. There was an incident, the Bifröst was destroyed, it must have caused damage beyond Asgard's pathways, I've been stuck here." Aetril's voice was thick with emotion, and Loki saw tears on her cheeks as she stared up at her daughter. He caught Frigga's eye and she smiled, looking tearful herself.

"The Bifröst? So –so Asgard's been cut off?" Deirbhile sounded almost delightfully scandalised, despite her emotional reunion.

"Yes, we've heard nothing from the other realms, how is Alfheim? Has anything happened?"

"Berach, Nuada and I have shared the ruling, tensions are high and the people are fully prepared to mass an army to rescue you if that is needed," said Deirbhile with a tense expression.

"It is not, but I appreciate it," said Aetril soothingly.

"When can you come home?" asked Deirbhile.

"As soon as the Bifröst is deemed safe," said Loki, stepping forward, "We need to finish repairs, then test it. Once we know your mother won't be harmed, she will be allowed home at once. It may be another few months, depending on how stable the pathways are."

"Couldn't you use the pathways? Do you really have to use the Bifröst?" asked Deirbhile petulantly.

"If the Bifröst isn't safe I won't trust the pathways to be safe," said Loki who knew the pathways well. "Believe me I have no desire to keep your mother from you, but I don't wish to see her harmed or worse by being careless."

Deirbhile narrowed her eyes at him, then nodded, "Very well."

"A leanabh," crooned Aetril, "It won't be much longer and at least we all know we're all well."

Deirbhile nodded again, her expression softening, "I'm so glad you're well máthair."

"And I you, and I want to talk about your siblings, but, tell me, what of Vanaheim?"

Loki came forward as Deirbhile paled a little, "You –you don't know?"

"No, we cannot see it with any seiðr or technology, even the Gatekeeper's sight cannot see it."

"Nor can we," said Deirbhile, now pulling on a lock of her hair. "Berach's been going mad about it, almost as worried about that as about you."

"So you've seen nothing, heard nothing?" demanded Loki, his heart pounding.

"Nothing. But…" Deirbhile bit her lip and looked at her mother, "Máthair, did Malekith attack Asgard?"

"Only in that he had the Bifröst destroyed. He has not attempted an invasion," said Loki over Aetril.

"Well he has not come here either, and you'd think if we were cut off…" Deirbhile looked anxious now and Aetril's hands flew to her face,

"Oh no…"

"What? You think Malekith's behind Vanaheim's disappearance?" asked Loki frantically.

"Svartalfheim cloaking technology is very sophisticated and powerful, but I never thought it was powerful enough to hide a planet."

"But if it is, he could be doing it to hide what he's up to," said Deirbhile. She looked very worried. "Vanaheim's army is something he's always wanted control over –but so long as Asgard was able to step in he never would have tried. Yet if Asgard is cut off…"

"Malekith could have taken over the realm by now," said Aetril. She sounded terrified and Loki, his head spinning, knew why. Asgard's army was strong, but Vanaheim's was massive, the biggest of the Nine Realms, and Malekith was a very, very good general.

"The Vanir would never submit to Malekith!" he cried.

"He wouldn't need to make them submit if he had a way of controlling them," said Aetril, now swaying on her feet. She looked like she might faint. Loki grabbed her arm and ordered the engineers out, leaving only the royals and Sverrir in the room.

"Is that possible?" asked Frigga.

"How?" asked Sverrir.

"Sigyn," said Loki in a hollow voice. Everyone looked at him. "If he had Sigyn –her people adore her, her parents groomed her to be worshipped like a goddess to her people. If Malekith had her under his control…"

Deirbhile nodded, her wings sagging slightly, "That's what we've been afraid of."

"Sigyn would never submit to Malekith," said Frigga, taking Loki's hand.

"Everyone eventually breaks under torture," said Loki in the same hollow voice. It was strange that he could still talk when he could not breathe. The memory of Sigyn curled up, naked and bleeding, rose before his eyes and he retched.

"Loki!" Frigga's arm curled tight around his waist as he doubled over.

"I'm alright! I'm fine!" he rasped, pulling himself upright and wiping his mouth. He leaned heavily on the console and looked up at Deirbhile, who was staring as if she could see inside him. "Do you think we need to prepare for an invasion? Heimdall has seen nothing to suggest Svartalfheim is planning an invasion –but if they can hide a whole planet…"

"I think it would be advisable, for both of us," said Deirbhile, looking at her mother, who nodded.

"Do it, have the army on alert, but I want no aggression. Only if a threat is made will you act."

"Understood."

Loki wondered what it was like to have the whole family sharing the role of ruling. Not that he had much family to help. Frigga was still holding his waist as she said,

"Why don't we leave you two to talk for a while?"

Aetril and Deirbhile nodded, and Loki staggered out of the room, with Frigga and Sverrir at his side.

This took a while because I've been busy as usual, but also I needed to work on it because I hit a bit of a conflict based on my view of Loki versus others, mostly based around Loki's resentment and depression. I had to think about what I was doing with the character and see if it was what I thought was most appropriate, and in the end I decided that it was the way to go. So I'm sticking with my plans, because I'm honestly really excited about the journey I'm going to take Loki on.